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February 21, 2013 12:00 AM Eastern Time

Stress Can Be Good for You, with the Right Mindset: New Yale
Research Study the Focus of an Upcoming Business Training called ReThink
Stress

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a newly-released study to be published in the April edition of The
Journal of Social and Psychological Sciences, Yale researchers
showed that training employees to view stress in a positive light
results in significant and measurable improvements in job performance
and overall health. This research was conducted by Alia Crum (lead
investigator), Peter Salovey (professor of psychology and Yale’s
incoming president) and Shawn Achor (former researcher at Harvard,
author The Happiness Advantage, and CEO of Good Think).

“This study shows that our mindset about
stress matters – that is, whether we believe stress will have enhancing
or debilitating effects will make those expected effects more likely.”

“While the media is full of stories about the negative impacts of
stress, there is a strong but often underrepresented body of research
that shows stress can be good for your performance, health and personal
growth,” stated Alia Crum. “This study shows that our mindset about
stress matters – that is, whether we believe stress will have enhancing
or debilitating effects will make those expected effects more likely.”

Study Details

In the study, 380 employees from a prominent investment bank were split
into three groups. One group watched a series of videos showing how
stress can be enhancing, the second group watched a series of videos on
how stress can be debilitating and the third was a control group who
watched no videos. As compared to the other two groups, the
stress-is-enhancing group had a significant reduction in stress-related
physical symptoms (such as headaches, backaches, fatigue) and a
significant improvement in a productivity assessment, increasing from
1.9 to 2.6 on a four-point scale.

In a follow-up study, not yet published, the investigators trained 200
managers at the same investment bank on how to use their current stress
to their advantage at work. The effects of the second experiment showed
further improvements in work effectiveness and health outcomes.

Putting the Study into Practice

The investigators of these studies are developing an online training
called ReThink
Stress that integrates the proprietary videos from the first
study with the core elements of the in-person training. Chief course
architect Eric Karpinski brings his background as a corporate trainer
and positive psychology coach to offer actionable steps for creating
quantifiable impact.

“The ReThink Stress program can change the way one views stress from
something to be feared to something that can be utilized to achieve
important goals,” says Shawn
Achor, CEO of Good
Think and producer of the online training program. “And managers can
bring this training to their employees to help their entire team tap
into these productivity benefits.”

Crum, Achor and Karpinski are available for interviews. Contact Alexis
Bierman for media inquiries, 210-787-8068, alexis@goodthinkinc.com.

About Good Think & the ReThink Stress Team

Good Think is a speaking and consulting firm whose goal is to bridge the
gap between academic research in positive psychology and the real world
with evidence-based, actionable and inspirational solutions.